Twilight Sparkle Discovers Comics
by NgCH
Summary: Twilight Sparkle never thought highly of comic books. When Spike filled up the Golden Oak Library with his hoarding of comic books she decided to organize them after forcing poor Spike to read 'proper' literature. Yet morbid curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to answer herself one simple question: Why do foals like comics so much? Contains reference to The Avengers.


"Spike, can you give me a hand in cleaning the library?" Twilight Sparkle impatiently implored Spike.

"In a minute, let me finish this book first," Spike said, his little head buried behind a flashy comic book.

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. Lately, Spike had spent an inordinate amount of time buying and reading comics. He read comic books at the dining table every meal. He read comics when he should be doing his share of housework around the tree house. He even read comic book after bedtime. In that week alone, she caught him secretly reading comics after bedtime four times.

Once a week, when he was not doing errands or reading comics, he would be hanging out at Ponyville's local comic book store. After every trip, Spike would come back with yet another stack of comic books. She had no idea where he stored them. Twilight Sparkle hoped this was not his dragon greed rearing its ugly head again. It was difficult enough convincing the mayor that he was safe after that first fiasco.

"Well you better put down that book, or you're not getting sapphire dessert for dinner tonight," Twilight Sparkle warned him.

"Oh, fine." Spike threw his comic book aside and started sweeping the floor with a sour look on his face.

"Works every time," Twilight thought with a smirk.

The doorbell rang. A little grey Pegasus foal stepped into the library. "Excuse me Twilight, but can I ask you something?" the little foal asked.

"Hey Rumble! Sure, ask away. Are you looking for something?" Twilight always insisted that everyone in Ponyville addressed her on first-name basis, despite holding the title of princess.

"Yeah, I'm looking for books about Star Storm. Do you happen to have any?" Rumble asked eagerly.

"Certainly!" Twilight levitated a very large book from the top of a bookshelf down to the foal. "I've many books on Star Swirl the Bearded. This introductory book is a good start."

Rumble stared at the green cover of the book, unsure. "Does it have pictures?"

"Why, yes! This book has the best illustrations of any Star Swirl books." With her magic, Twilight flipped open the book to a page with full-page illustrations of Star Swirl's tools of trade.

"This is my very first book on Star Swirl the Bearded, and I loved it so much I read it ten times over! I highly recommend it any fillies and foals who want to more about him!" Twilight said excitedly. "So, do you want to borrow it?"

Rumble skimmed through the book for a while. "Yeah, thanks Twilight. But-"

"Don't worry; I have plenty more books on the subject!" Twilight levitated even more books from the shelves. "Star Swirl the autobiography? Star Swirl beginner spell book? How about the foal version of his autobiography? It comes with nice artwork!"

"But Twilight, I'm looking for Star Storm, not Star Swirl," Rumble explained.

"Star Storm?" Twilight asked, surprised. "Who is Star Storm? I don't like to brag, but I've studied the magic of every magicians and witches in the recorded history of Equestria, and I've never heard of anyone called Star Storm. Who is he anyway?"

"Well, she's this really cool unicorn mare who mastered this really awesome kind of magic that gave her lightning bolts and stuff, and she could fly with pure magic and fight monsters and evil magicians from the four corners of Equestria!" Rumble ran around excitedly as he exclaimed.

"Hey, did some pony here mention Star Storm?" Spike chimed in.

"I did!" Rumble leap in the air. "Isn't she the coolest?"

"You got that right buddy! Have you read the story of her facing the Order of the Chimera? She was so awesome!"

"She fought the Order of the Chimera already?! When did that happen?"

"Well it all happened when-"

"Wait a minute, I'm confused now," Twilight interrupted them. "Who is Star Storm? What is this Order of the Chimera? How come I've never heard of them from Princess Celestia? Spike, did you miss a letter from her?"

Spike and Rumble gave her the same funny look. "Twilight, Star Storm is a comic book character," Spike explained slowly.

"Oh! Now that makes a lot of sense," Twilight said, exasperated.

"So, do you have any comics here I can borrow?" Rumble asked brightly.

"I'm sorry Rumble, but I don't stock comic books here. I don't have any book on Star Storm," Twilight said softly.

Rumble's face drooped. "Oh. Well, it's a long shot anyway. I guess I've to save up my allowance like everybody else. Thanks for the help anyway, Twilight."

Rumble was about to turn and leave, when Spike approached him, "Hey, you want to know the story? You can read issue twenty-one to twenty-five just for the good parts. In fact, I can-"

Twilight plugged one of her hoof into Spike's mouth. "May I interest you in some Daring Do books instead?"

"Daring Do huh? She does sound kind of interesting," Rumble pondered.

Spike removed Twilight's hoof from his mouth. "Twilight, what are you doing? I was about to offer to lend him my comics!" Spike whispered angrily.

"No, we've talked about this before. You can buy comics for yourself, but we're not lending it to other ponies. Otherwise they get the wrong idea that the library carries comic books!" Twilight whispered back.

Spike sighed. "Okay, whatever."

Twilight turned back to Rumble. "Well, where were we? Ah yes, Daring Do!" She levitated all the copies of Daring Do she had in the library to Rumble. "You can borrow three of them, so just pick volume one to three!"

"Are those comics?" Rumble asked.

"No, they're novels. But don't worry; they're fine for all ages."

Rumble pondered for a few seconds. "Well, okay. I'll take the first book. At least mummy will stop pestering me to read a book."

"Enjoy your books!" Twilight Sparkle waved Rumble goodbye as he towed the heavy book away with a miniature wagon she had loaned to him.

"At least Rumble can still be saved," Twilight said to herself, relieved. Twilight did not think very highly of comics. In her mind, comic books were nothing more than mediocre pulp fiction devoid of any literary or educational value. Twilight had planned for a long time to make Spike read more proper books and wean him off his addiction to comics.

Speaking of books, Twilight remembered she needed to reorganize the library back room where she did all of her administrative work. She opened the door to the back room. The sight that greeted her made her scream. "Spike, come over here!"

"What? You don't have to shout," Spike responded, running over to her.

"Can you explain this?" Twilight angrily jabbed a hoof at the room. Stacks of comic books filled the entire room.

"They're just comic books, what's the fuss?"

"This is madness! When have you started hoarding all the comic books from all over Equestria? And why did you put them all in the back room without my permission?"

"Twilight, I've always kept my comic book collection here. You never complained."

"I didn't complain when you used up an entire shelf without my permission, but this, this is ridiculous! How much money have you spent on them?"

"Oh, I got them really cheap just the other week at the comic store's clearance sale. One bit for five books! Can you believe it? How can I pass over such a great deal?"

"Oh no, his greedy dragon nature is coming back again!" Twilight realized in horror. If she didn't do something soon, it'll be monster-dragon Spike all over again! "Spike, I'm sorry, but I think you've went too far. I'm banning you from buying or reading any more comics."

Spike's jaw dropped. "But, they're mine!"

Twilight telepathically closed the door and locked it with a key. "It's for your own good."

Desperate, Spike knelt before Twilight, pleading, "No Twilight, please don't throw them away! I've worked so hard to collect them!"

Twilight's heart softened. She couldn't bear seeing Spike being sad. "I won't, you have my words. But you're not reading any more comics until I say so."

"But, what can I read when I'm bored? I'll go mad!"

"Well lucky for you, we happen to live in a library." Twilight strolled over to a shelf and retrieved a medium-sized book titled Around Equestria in Seventy Days. "Here, this should keep you occupied for a while."

"This book? Nobody ever loaned this book, Twilight. Nobody ever reads it," Spike said with a perplexed look.

"Well I do, and it's one of my favorite books. This is your reading assignment. Write a two-page book report based on this book, and I'll let you read your comics again. No negotiation." Twilight said.

Spike grumbled. "But Twilight, this book is boring. It doesn't even have any picture in it!"

"Then use your imagination. Take your time, this book is meant to be read slowly."

Sulking, Spike left with the book under his arm.

"In the meantime, I better tidy up that mess in the back room," Twilight decided aloud. "Comic books or not, they're long overdue for reorganizing." Back inside the library's back room, Twilight only just realized the scale of her task. She regretted not keeping a closer tab on Spike's comic hoarding habit. She would need the rest of the day just to sort them, and most annoyingly, it could upset her tightly worn schedule for the rest of the week.

Twilight prepared a stack of crates where she would store the comic books, after she sorted them and cataloged them in her personal book catalog. She was to simply get rid of all the comic books, and the temptation grew stronger when she started tackling the first stack.

"Magistro issue number seventy-two, Magistro issue number eleven, Magistro issue number ninety-nine... There are almost a hundred issues and they're not stacked in order. Wonderful," Twilight grumbled. She decided she should just throw all the Magistro titled books into a stack for sorting later.

"'Magistro vs. Dr Evil, Battle of the Century.' That's an imaginative title." Another book went into the stack.

"Magistro and Sonic Pony team-up." Yet another book went into the stack.

"'Sonic Pony, Origin Vol 2.' Wait a minute, if is this the same Sonic Pony as the last one?" Twilight rechecked the last book. The Sonic Pony in question was the same character on the cover. "Wait, so these two book share the same characters? And yet the authors are different? Great, how am I going to categorize them now"

After a few seconds of pondering, Twilight decided she should just stick to sorting them by title. Despite being stacked out-of-order, Twilight quickly finished sorting the first stack. Spike appeared to have stacked all the comic books with Magistro in the title together. At least his time spent helping around the library had taught him some organization habits.

With the first stack done, Twilight moved on to the second stack. Twilight drew out the first book from the second stack, and she immediately spotted a problem. There was a mare with unrealistically slim body on the cover shooting fire bolts, while standing on her hind legs, her body twisted at her waist almost a full hundred and eighty degree to face the reader.

"Ugh, has this artist even learned basic pony anatomy?" Twilight threw the book into the crate.

The rest of the books in the same stack had better-drawn cover, relatively speaking. The stallions all looked buff and muscular, bodies so unrealistically huge they would put Bulk Bicep to shame. The mares were all equally slim, draping themselves all over the colts, and showing their backsides with sensual looks of seduction for the readers.

Twilight felt uncomfortable. "Spike, have you been reading these? It's outrageous!" Her anger increased with every book cover she skimmed through. All the mares have the same poses, draping themselves all over the colts or lying on the ground at the stallions' hooves. They looked helpless, always in the arms of these strong and buff colts, looking like they were ready to kiss – or ready to faint from starvation, since that was the only plausible explanation for their unhealthily skinny bodies. "What did Spike see in these comics anyway?" Twilight decided she was going to discuss over this with Spike and whoever in the comic book store who sold him those comics.

Out of morbid curiosity, she decided to read one of them. The one she picked was simply titled "Vondork." The cover had a cigar chomping unicorn colt with a staff enumerating lightning bolt on one hoof, and a mare in another, staring back at Twilight with a seductive expression.

Lord Minehord has returned to unleash all manners of horrors on Equestria. Only Vondork, Equestria's most wanted vigilante, could prevent the total annihilation of Equestria!

Twilight flipped to the first page. On the very first splash page, the male pony she presumed was Vondork was fighting some red-skinned monkey-like beasts over Canterlot city.

"You're finished Vondork! Equestria is finally mine!" Lord Minehord laughed.

"I'm gonna blow your sorry plot back to kingdom comes, Minehord!" Vondork spoke with a smoking cigar in his mouth.

What followed were twenty pages of violent panels depicting Vondork fighting Minehord and his minions. Vondork was reckless, carelessly destroying houses and towers all over Canterlot. In one panel, he even uprooted a tower from the royal castle with his dark magic and flung it at Minehord, right within the vicinity of Canterlot amidst panicking ponies. Never once did Vondork stopped to help the innocent civilians.

"This is horrible! How could he fight his enemies in the middle of a densely populated city without any concern for the ponies?" Twilight grumbled.

Vondork head-butted Minehord through several watch towers punched him mid-air, and then hoof-kicked Minehord to the ground, once again right where innocent civilians were standing.

"What a hero," Twilight said sarcastically.

Dispersed throughout the panels, the mare on the cover was also fighting the minions, so at least that was a plus for her. Even then, the artist chose to use every panel with her in it to show off her unrealistically proportioned body. Twilight swore there were several instances where she has twisted her own back.

"Vondork, I got your girl! Bow down to me or she'll die!" Minehord gloated after capturing her, who was conveniently disarmed and suddenly helpless once a few demon monkey minions managed to catch her.

"Save me Vondork!" the mare screamed back.

"I saw you fighting the minions all by yourself, and now all of a sudden you're helpless?" Twilight complained aloud.

Without warning, a beam of light shot down from the heavens, striking Minehord in the back and dissolving him into dust. Sun Fort floated down from the sky as sunlight penetrated the overcast sky and turned all the demons of Tataurus to dust.

"Vondork, this is nothing but a diversion. Minehord was only a pawn," Sun Fort said. "Also, Minehord was your brother."

"NOOO!" Vondork cried out in anguish.

"To be continued in the next issue!" With that caption, the comic book abruptly ended.

Twilight was speechless. After all the build-up and twenty pages of violence with blatant disregard for the lives of innocent ponies, the story abruptly ended with the villain killed off in the most anti-climactic way possible. What on earth happened anyway? Why was Vondork fighting Minehord? Why did that mare suddenly become a damsel in distress even after being clearly portrayed as a strong warrior? And why the sudden revelation that Minehord was Vondork's brother? Nothing made sense.

"What a rubbish story." Twilight flung the comic book to the stack where it belonged.

"Hey Twilight, what are you doing?" Spike asked from the doorway to the back room.

"I'm tidying up your comic books," Twilight said.

"Cool! Thanks for doing it for me. I've planned to do it for a week, but it looks like you're doing it for me anyway." Spike scampered off laughing.

"You're welcome," Twilight said sarcastically.

Twilight dusted off the cover of another book from a new stack. To her surprise, the comic book cover was not some muscular colt or impossibly skinny mare. Instead, it was a drawing of adorable animals having a picnic with butterflies.

"Is this a comic for babies?" Twilight flipped through the book. Indeed, it was a very safe comic for little fillies, with bunnies and deer hopping around, meeting friends and having little adventures, like getting safely across a river with only a tree log. Twilight was genuinely surprised that there was nothing harmful about them at all.

Follow the adventures of Bunny, Little Deer and their little lovable friends in yet another series of adventures in the Forest of Friendship! Rated for nursery and above.

"Ha, who knew? There are comics written for little fillies after all. I think this will be right up Fluttershy's alley," Twilight mused. She flipped to a random page inside.

* * *

The animal friends gasped at the ruined wood cake placed on the table.

"Oh no, Bunny, Little Deer dropped the cake we just baked for Otter Jr!" Big Deer said.

"I'm so sorry, it's my entire fault!" Little Deer cried.

"We forgive you Little Deer, it's only an accident," Bunny consoled Little Deer.

"But Otter Jr's birthday is tonight! How will we ever bake a wood cake as good as the one I dropped?"

"We shall bake another one in time. If we work together, we can overcome any challenges! Is everyone with me?"

"Yes!" The little animals cheered.

"Then let's bake some cake!"

* * *

"Well, at least this one is teaching good values. If only all comics are like this one. After all, comics are nothing more than fancy picture books, right?" Twilight skimmed through a few more books from the stack just to be sure there was no rude surprises, and she pushed them aside.

Twilight was expecting to see yet another superhero comic, and she was right. The first book had a fairly generic cover with superheroes posing together in a show of strength, only this time the cast were different.

"League of Heroes: The Founding #1. The greatest heroes the world has ever seen band together for the first time to save Equestria!" the book's title boldly proclaimed.

Twilight chuckled. "Well, I think I know a thing or two about saving Equestria. Let's see what the synopsis says."

They were Equestria's greatest heroes from all walks of life, but they've never joined forces, UNTIL NOW! Direk, emperor of the underworld, has hatched a nefarious plot with Prince Facet to retrieve the Hydra Stone for their own ends! Now, the heroes among heroes were together for the first time to defend Equestria! But will they succeed?

"Wait a minute, this sounds a bit familiar. Oh right, that incident with Spike's enchanted comic book, how can I forget?" Twilight remembered the time an enchanted comic book Spike bought from some shady establishment sucked them into its own universe, turning them into 'Power Ponies' and forcing them to defeat a make-believe villain to escape. She was not eager to relive that experience.

Out of caution, Twilight cast a spell that should show any hidden magic in the comic book. To her relief, there was no concealed magic or hidden portal inside. "Right, let's see what Spike sees in this comic book. I hope there aren't any of those creepy drawings of anorexic mares again."

* * *

In the middle of what was now known as the inhospitable Equestrian Central Desert, an ancient civilization once thrived there. It was once a powerful and prosperous civilization with unimaginable riches. Almost nothing of it survived the eons. What did remained there, were among the most dangerous secrets ever concealed in Equestria.

The once empty lands were teeming with ponies in dark uniforms. Deep inside the ruins of a once magnificent temple, scientists and soldiers scurry among heavy scientific equipment. Powerful searchlights illuminated an enormous ring-like structure covered in mysterious symbols.

An airship landed outside the entrance under the clear starry night. Stepping out of the airship was a stern-face donkey with an eye-patch on his left eye. The pony guards saluted him smartly as he entered the temple. As the donkey entered the chamber containing the ring, a pudgy pony scientist galloped over to him, babbling nervously, "Director Stone, the readings from the gate has been steadily rising at an alarming rate for the past two hours. We guess-"

"I don't like guessing games, doctor. Give me facts," Director Stone snapped at him.

"There is no other way of putting it, director, but the portal, it's opening!"

"Opening for whom?"

"We don't know!"

Director Stone looked at the gate. A green aura was starting to envelop it. "Then let's ready the welcome committee. Guards, take your positions!" Director Stone commanded. Heavily armored colts took up attack positions around the gate. Stone stood in front of the gate, waiting.

The portal exploded into a burst of light. A hoof extended through its watery-like gate. "At last, I'm free!" A snaky voice echoed around the chamber.

"This is Director Stone of Equestria M.U.L.E. Identify yourself!" Director Stone ordered.

The mysterious voice crackled with laughter. "Oh, is this how you welcome your god now? Oh my, how manners have changed for the worse since my ancestors last visited. But no matter, you'll learn who I am."

"Oh, I know who you are now. Your sister has told us everything we need to know about you. She suggested we call for your arrest."

"My sister may disrespect me, but you'll learn to fear me, for I am Prince Facet!" A gray unicorn with snake-like eyes burst through the gate. "Bow down to your future ruler!" Prince Facet laughed as he showered thunderbolts around the temple chamber.

* * *

Twilight, to her surprise, had become genuinely intrigued. Yes, she knew Prince Facet's name was a cute word-play on the name of a real-life royalty figure from the history book. His fantastic magical power was also beyond unrealistic for any unicorn. But for some reason, she found herself reading panels as fast as her eyes could allow.

A footnote at the bottom of the page reads, "To find out more how Director Stone learnt about Prince Facet, read Star Storm Issue Four!"

"So, they're trying to entice me to buy yet another comic book just to find out what's really going on. No wonder Spike has bought them like crazy," Twilight mused.

The book then shifted attention to the hero characters in question. There was Steam Vent, a genius inventor earth pony who built a flying suit powered by steam; the unicorn Captain Equestria, a war hero of the last great pony war who found himself transported forward in time; Beautrix, a beautiful Pegasus mare who could morph into a powerful vampire-pony beast; Crossbow the griffon, the sharpest crossbow sharpshooter in Equestria; and lastly, Star Storm.

"Star Storm? Is this what Rumble was talking about yesterday?" Twilight read the narrator's introduction to the character more carefully.

* * *

Star Storm, princess of the elusive Amethyst Kingdom. She was one of the youngest and most powerful practitioners of the nearly extinct Amethyst branch of magic. First sent by Queen Ruby Heart to retrieve a forbidden scroll stolen from their kingdom, Star Storm decided to stay in Equestria to learn more about the world outside her hermit country, in the hope that she could one day bridge the two civilizations together.

* * *

A portrait of Star Storm took up an entire page. The unicorn mare was standing confidently on a cliff, dressed in exotic garment that was a cross of warrior armor and a magician cloak. Rarity might not approve of her strange outfit, but the artist still drew her well, making her look pretty while still retaining the realistic body proportion of a young mare.

The book ended with Star Storm learning about Prince Facet's return at the temple ruins, which turned out to be one of Amethyst Kingdom's magical portals from a millennial ago. The next issue of the story was on top of the stack. Twilight took it without hesitation.

* * *

"What do you want from me, Stone?" Beautrix asked. The elaborately dressed mare was standing under a cherry tree with an exquisitely hand-crafted umbrella in her hooves and her hat shading her face.

"I'm asking you to help," Director Stone said.

Beautrix laughed bitterly. "After all the repulsive and regrettable things I've done? All I want is to live out the rest of my days peacefully, away from my inner monster."

Stone moved closer and said with a softer voice, "I'm giving you a chance for redemption. I'm giving you a chance to prove you're not a monster."

Beautrix looked away. "No pony is going to forgive me. They don't trust me anymore. I'll never redeem myself to them."

"Whoever said about redeeming yourself to them?" Stone turned away.

Beautrix unfurled her umbrella to shade herself from the bright sunlight, and she followed Stone back to his airship.

* * *

"You know Foresight, riding this airship actually brings me back some fond memories," Captain Equestria said to Agent Foresight as they rode in a high-tech, pressurized airship.

"You had airships back in your days?" Foresight asked, looking up from her clipboard.

"Yup, my parents used to take me on airship joy rides. Back then, they weren't as comfortable, or safe."

"Don't worry Captain, airship technology has improved tremendously in your absence."

"Actually, this one isn't very alien to me."

"Prepare for landing," the airship pilot announced from the cockpit.

"Landing? We're still at least five hundred feet over nowhere," Captain Equestria asked, confused. He got his answer when a gigantic airship, as large as the tallest tower in Canterlot, loomed into view amidst the clouds.

"Welcome to Airship Carrier One, M.U.L.E's mobile headquarter," Foresight said with no small amount of pride.

Captain Equestria's jaws turned slack with awe as he watched the ponies on the carrier's flight deck guide their airship to land.

* * *

Prince Facet had located and retrieved the Hydra Stone from an upscale auction house, and in his moment of triumph he used its magic to hold the auction's distinguished attendees hostage in the town square.

"It's being over a millennial since I've received any tribute from your race. But no matter, Prince Facet is a benevolent ruler. Pledge your loyalty to me, and you'll find me a better ruler than your fake 'princess' have ever been," Prince Facet said to the shivering crowd of ponies in ballroom garbs, pointing his magic staff menacingly at them. "Now, bow down before me!"

An elderly pony wearing faded guard uniform stood up and said in a raspy voice, "I refuse to kneel before you."

Prince Facet laughed. "Well, what do we have here? A rebel? What's the matter with you, grown tired of living?"

"I've been a royal guard all my life. I've never once bowed down to the tyrants who came before you."

"I'm more powerful than any of them. I've the Hydra Stone now! Nothing can defeat me!"

"That's what they all said. Just because you're powerful doesn't mean you control us," the ex-guard said stoically.

"Then I shall make an example out of you. This is what you get for your undying loyalty to your puffy princesses!" Prince Facet pointed his staff at the elderly pony, when a shield flew from the sky and knocked the staff out of his hooves. "Who attacked me?!"

Captain Equestria leapt down from his airship with Crossbow landing closely behind him. "It's rude to disrespect your elders, Prince Facet. Haven't your mother taught you manners?"

"Insolent fools! I'll have your hide!" Prince Facet fired off a bolt of lightning at them. They leap to safety just in time. The ponies started running away in panic.

Captain Equestria recalled his enchanted shield, which flew back to his outstretched hoof. He threw it again at Prince Facet, knocking Prince Facet to the ground. Crossbow, now in the air, fired two shots of arrows at Prince Facet, pinning him to the ground by the sleeves of his royal gown.

Captain Equestria stood over Prince Facet. "Surrender now, and we may consider repatriating you back to your home country."

"You overestimated your strength, ponies!" Prince Facet suddenly vanished. It was a hallucination.

"Look out!" Crossbow cried out. The real Prince Facet jumped off a statue, his staff aimed at Captain Equestria's head.

"Oof!" A cannon ball from nowhere hit Facet in the chest, and he tumbled to the ground. The ball exploded into a net, trapping Facet.

"You guys started the party without me?" Steam Vent, in his shiny full-body armor, landed next to Captain Equestria. "My invitation card didn't say this will be one of those parties."

"Steam Vent, is that you?" Captain Equestria asked.

"That's me! The one and only Steam Vent, and no pony ever throw a party in Canterlot without me. I hoped there's a buffet here, otherwise this is one lousy party."

Captain Equestria glared at him. Steam Vent shrugged. "What? Chill. Mission accomplished. Let's take this party-crasher out of here."

* * *

"Facet, my dear brother, stop this madness right now!" Star Storm admonished Facet.

"Madness? I'm only taking what is rightfully mine. A little piece of land to call my own, even if it's populated with dumb mules. That's all I ask," Facet said sardonically.

"You've already hurt our mother's feelings with your action. Our mother-"

Facet's nerve frayed. "She's not my mother! My mother would never lie to me, betray my trust, and then banish me to the nether realm!"

"You forced her to take drastic action! Stop being so selfish and repent! Wake up from your madness!"

"I'm already mad," Facet said, and he smiled. Confused, Star Storm looked up just in time to see Captain Equestria about to pounce on her. Star Storm teleported away just as his shield slammed into the ground.

Star Storm sensed fast movement. She ducked just in time to avoid one of Steam Vent's cannon ball, and retaliated with a blast of heat energy.

Steam Vent fell to the ground, his armor glowing red hot. Only his armor protected him from being burnt. Steam Vent glimpsed a gauge on his hoof. "Two hundred percent heat capacity? Oh, how nice of you."

Steam Vent stood up and aimed a blast of boiling hot steam from his arm cannon. Star Storm deflected the blast with a water shield. Rolling clouds of steam immediately enveloped the forest.

When the steam dissipated, Steam Vent and Captain Equestria were aiming their weapons at her.

"Who are you? Why do you want with Prince Facet?" Captain Equestria demanded.

"Look at her, this mare is incredible!" Steam Vent said in awe.

"This is not the time, Steam," Captain Equestria barked back.

"No, I'm serious. I've measured her energy signature. Her magical power is off the charts! The only beings more powerful than her are the Alicorn princesses!"

"What?"

"I am Princess Star Storm from the Amethyst Kingdom, daughter of Queen Ruby Heart," Star Storm said with the pride of a warrior.

"I figured she's a princess," Steam Vent mused.

"Prince Facet is my brother," Star Storm continued. "I am taking him back to my home kingdom after he escaped from his prison in the nether realm. I am also searching for the Hydra Stone."

"Why are you after the Hydra Stone?" Captain Equestria asked.

"The Hydra Stone is an ancient artifact my ancestors created eons ago. In the wrong hooves, it can become an unstoppable weapon of mass destruction. It's far too dangerous to leave it in Equestria," she explained.

Captain Equestria lowered his shield, and Steam Vent followed suit by lowering his cannons.

"I'm sorry for our misunderstanding. We wish to bring Prince Facet back with us for questioning. Perhaps you can come along to help. Director Stone believes he has far bigger plan," Captain Equestria said.

Star Storm looked anxiously at his grinning brother, and then to the strangers who were minutes ago battling her.

"Director Stone is my acquaintance, and I trust his words. I'll come," Star Storm said grudgingly. "But beware; my brother is a cunning trickster."

* * *

"Twilight! Where's lunch?" Spike interrupted Twilight from the doorway.

"I'm still busy tidying up your mess. You'll have to fix your own lunch," Twilight said, hiding the comic book.

"Well, if you said so. I think I'll have ice-cream cake for lunch today. Mmm!" Spike smacked his lips as he ran out of the tree house. Twilight rolled her eyes. She carried on reading the next volume.

* * *

Beautrix was sitting alone on the observation deck of the airship carrier, silently watching the moon rise and the world moving slowly below behind the deck's massive glass façade. Star Storm entered the deck.

"Greetings," Star Storm greeted Beautrix. "You're Beautrix, I presume?"

"Your highness! Yes, I am Beautrix, and I'm eternally honored by your presence." Beautrix bowed to her out of respect, but Star Storm stopped her.

"Please, dispense with the formality. May I join you in star-gazing?" Star Storm asked.

"Absolutely!" Beautrix agreed. Star Storm sat beside Beautrix, watching the rolling clouds with her.

"You know who I actually am, don't you?" Beautrix asked, nervously brushing her luscious black hair with her hooves.

"Yes, Beautrix. I know the story."

"Aren't you afraid that I might lose control again?"

Star Storm looked kindly at Beautrix. "Beautrix, I sympathize with your struggle. I practice the Amethyst branch of magic. It granted me great power, but this great power can be easily corrupted by dark desires. My brother Facet lost control of his anger and greed, and his power turned him into the monster he is now."

"You struggled with controlling your powers too?"

"Yes. It's not easy, but I've managed to find inner peace by channeling my power to defending my homes, both my kingdom and Equestria. I still have much to learn."

Beautrix looked down at her hooves. "My struggles are different from yours. My power is a curse, not a gift. I gave in to my anger once, and I ended up hurting all the ponies who mattered in my life. Now I'm an outcast, always hiding, always afraid of turning into a monster again. I'm afraid I might even become a liability to the team."

Star Storm gently placed one of her hooves on Beautrix's. "You may have made terrible mistakes in the past, but I sense your heart is pure. I'm confident you'll put your powers only to good use, regardless of how you got it."

Beautrix smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

The atmosphere inside the airship's command center had become tense.

Steam Vent pointed an incriminating hoof at a blueprint on the table. "So, Director Stone, I've found your secret science project. You aren't just retrieving the Hydra Stone. You want to turn it into your own weapon!"

"Just because I didn't tell you, doesn't mean I'm lying to you," Director Stone said coolly. "This stone is our only chance at defending ourselves from current and future threats to Equestria, including this very threat we're facing now. Have you already forgotten how helpless we were when the Hell Hounds returned?"

"How dare you suggest you use the Hydra Stone as a weapon? The stone belongs to the Amethyst Kingdom; you've no right to use it!" Star Storm lashed at Director Stone.

"It's funny that you say that, because the last time I checked, your ancestors abandoned it here and left us holding the bag!" Stone snapped back.

Captain Equestria stepped in between Stone and Star Storm. "Look, your highness, I understand your frustration, but let's keep calm. We have a Direk invasion coming and we need to formulate a plan-"

"Plan to do what, filly scout? Keep taking orders?" Steam Vent interrupted.

Captain Equestria went silent. He turned to Steam Vent, glaring at him menacingly.

Steam Vent glared back defiantly. "What?"

"Steam Vent, I have had enough of your arrogance."

"You're the first pony to complain," Steam Vent replied sarcastically.

"I knew your parents back in the war. They were the bravest ponies I've ever met. What do you think they would have said to you if they were still alive?"

"I'm not interested in following their hoof-steps."

"You call yourself a 'hero'. I've read up on you. You're not even half the hero you claim you are. You're just a colt toying around inside a tin suit. What are you without it?"

"Inventor, business mongrel, and Canterlot's life of the party. What about you? You're just a relic from a barbaric age. You didn't build that shield of yours. You're nothing without it. You're not anyone's captain anymore, so stop pretending like you still have divine right to order me around!"

Beautrix forcefully separated them before Captain Equestria could respond. "Both of you stop! We're supposed to save Equestria, not fight over who's a better colt in this 'hero' business!"

Suddenly, alarms started wailing. Explosions from outside rocked the airship, throwing everyone in the lab off-balance. Director Stone scrambled to the intercom. "Foresight, what's going on?"

"We're under attack! They've already taken out three of our helium cells! We're launching as many Pegasi as we could to intercept, but we're already losing altitude!" Foresight reported over the intercom.

Stone looked back at the heroes. "We've to save this argument for later."

"I got a plan. Meet you outside!" Steam Vent dashed out of the room.

* * *

"Come on, come on! Where's the next issue?" Twilight found herself rummaging through the untidy stack searching for the next issue. She found it lying spine-up on the floor, hidden behind the stack.

* * *

Steam Vent carefully sealed up the last damaged helium cell with a blowtorch, trying his best to concentrate above the noise of defensive cannon fires, and the winged demons attacking the ship. "Almost there!" Steam Vent muttered to himself, sweats falling freely inside his bronze helmet. The lives of everyone on the airship were counting on him completing the improvised repair in time.

One of the bigger winged demons crashed into Beautrix. The two monsters clawed at each other as they tumbled on the helium cell Steam Vent was trying to repair.

The impact caused him to lose balance. He grabbed hold of a rigging rope just in time to avoid falling off the airship.

"Come on!" He pulled himself back up. He couldn't fire his flight pack. He had already depleted most of his fuel in his backpacks and he needed all of the remaining fuel to mend the leak. He crawled his way up the slippery skin of the helium cell back to the ruptured spot. Using all of his muscle strength to hang on, he sealed the last leak.

"Captain, inflate it now!" He shouted to Captain Equestria.

"Give me a sec!" Captain Equestria shouted as he slammed his shield into the face of a demon.

"Captain, now!" Steam Vent could already see the trees on the ground rushing up towards him.

"Captain, stand still!" Crossbow swooped in and fired off a volley of stun arrows at Captain Equestria's direction, paralyzing all the demons that were fighting Captain Equestria and leaving him unscathed.

"Thanks, Crossbow!" Captain Equestria punched the last standing winged demon off the airship, and pulled the lever that inflates the helium cell.

The helium cell instantly inflated. The airship's descend halted and started to climb. The airship was saved.

"Yes! We did it! Uh oh." The beast Beautrix had been fighting turned its attention to him and leaps towards his direction. Beautrix grabbed its tail just before its teeth could touch Steam Vent's helmet, swung it a full circle, and flung it howling into the skies.

"You aren't so strong when your suit isn't working," Beautrix said in a deep, booming voice. She stretched her giant clawed hand to Steam Vent.

"Happens all the time," Steam Vent said sheepishly, gratefully taking her hand.

* * *

The mood back inside the command center was grim as the heroes sat round a table, nursing the wounds they sustained while defending the carrier airship.

"Farcet has escaped with the Hydra Stone, Direk is amassing an army to invade Equestria, and we still have nothing to fight them," Director Stone said gravely. "We are in a bind."

"Our intelligence suggests that the most likely place of invasion is Manehatten," Agent Foresight said. "With the Hydra Stone, Facet can open a direct portal for Direk's army to invade Equestria."

"Well, we can't just sit around and wait, can we? They're right at our doorstep," Beautrix said. "Can't we just fight them?"

Agent Foresight made a bleak expression. "We don't know how big Lord Direk's forces are, so we have to assume the worst. Unless we come up with something to close the portal, they'll easily overrun the city within a day, secure a base for more forces to arrive via the portal, and stage a full invasion on the rest of Equestria."

"The Amethyst Kingdom will be next. Direk wants Equestria, but Prince Facet only has his eyes set on Amethyst," Star Storm added. "If he succeeds, there will be no one left to oppose Direk."

Captain Equestria stood up. "We'll fight them when they arrive. Together, we can still stop the invasion!"

"How do you plan to fight off an entire army of Direk's soldiers when the portal is already opened?" Director Stone questioned.

"We can't defeat all of them, but we can hold off the invasion until we retrieve the Hydra Stone and close the portal. Aren't I right, Star Storm?"

"If anyone can open the portal, I can seal it shut, permanently," Star Storm said confidently. "I'll fight alongside you, Captain."

Captain Equestria nodded gratefully. "It'll be my honor, your highness."

Beautrix scoffed. "This is barely a plan, but it looks like this is the best plan we'll ever get. I'll string along."

"I'll go too," Crossbow proclaimed.

"Count me in. I'm gonna bill that bratty prince for all the damages he has done," Steam Vent said. "All I need is a new suit from my home. Do you mind dropping me off at my mansion outside Manehatten along the way?"

Director Stone nodded. "Pilot, set course for Manehatten, and give us all the speed you can get from this old girl. We've a city to defend."

* * *

The winged demons surrounded the heroes on the road with their pikes lowered. There were fires and debris on the streets. The smell of smoke and gun-powder filled the air. Distant screams of panicking civilians were everywhere. Direk's flying chariot army had invaded the skies. Everything looked hopeless, but the heroes were not perturbed.

"What's the next plan, Captain?" Steam Vent asked, readying his steam cannons at the demons.

Captain Equestria readied his shield. "We'll hold back the invading force long enough for Star Storm time to close the portal. Steam Vent and Crossbow, take to the air and keep the chariots occupied. Star Storm, you can concentrate on closing the portal. Beautrix and I will fight the ground force and protect the civilians."

Star Storm's horn glowed. "It's a great honor to fight alongside you all, valiant heroes of Equestria!"

"Let's smash them!" Beautrix bellowed.

Captain Equestria raised his shield."Heroes, attack!"

* * *

"What are you reading Twilight?" Spike's face loomed in Twilight's face just when she looked up from the comic book.

"Ga!" Twilight quickly hid the comic book behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same question. You've barely done any tidying up ever since I left for lunch."

Twilight gulped. The shame, oh the shame! She shouldn't have allowed herself to peek at his comics, now she was compulsively reading them one after another. After everything she said in the past that novels were superior to all comics! How could a princess be reading something as pulpy as superhero comics?

"You – you're the one to talk! You never offered to help me tidy up the room!" she stammered.

"You told me I can't touch my comics until I turned in my book report, remember?"

"Well, I – that was just a figure of speech! But since you're not interested in helping, why are you still here?"

Spike's eyes narrowed at Twilight. "Have you been reading my comics?"

Panicked, Twilight teleported herself and the comic book out of the room.

Spike gave chase, shouting, "Twilight, I'm serious! You promised you won't throw them out!"

Spike chased after Twilight as she teleported around the tree house in rapid succession. Somehow, Spike managed to find her in every hiding spot she teleported herself into. In the wardrobe, under her bed, on the balcony, even in the canopy of the tree, Twilight just couldn't escape from his wrath.

Spike finally caught up with Twilight when she mistakenly teleported right in front of him in the bedroom. He jumped her. They rolled and tumbled into Twilight's personal bookshelf, knocking down all the books and raining them on their heads.

"Ooh, my head," Twilight said groggily, pushing off a bulky volume of _War And Conflicts Of Pre-Equestrian Era_ off her head. The comic book lay undamaged and opened in front of her.

Spike popped out of a pile of books. "Ah ha! I caught you in the act! You're trying to get rid of all of my comics all along, haven't you?"

"No, that's not what I'm doing!" Twilight protested.

"Then why are you trying to hide my limited-edition League of Heroes issue nine reprint with the variant cover drawn by Swirly Paint? Reading it? You don't read comics! You said so yourself!"

Twilight threw her hooves up in the air in surrender, yelling, "Alright, alright! You want to know the truth? I READ IT! I've read your comics for the past hour and a half, and I actually ENJOYED IT! Are you happy now? I've brought great shame to myself!"

Twilight covered her face. She felt unbearable shame. A librarian reading comics! After lecturing foals and fillies all over Ponyville about the virtues of reading proper books, of learning grammar and vocabulary from written words, how could she face any pony in Ponyville now?

Princess Twilight Sparkle, comic book dork, reading the same comic books that gave rise to literary abomination like Vondork and his creepy harem of skinny mares!

"Hey, it's no big deal. I don't think it's shameful," Spike said slowly.

Twilight uncovered her face. "Of course you'll say that, you're not a librarian."

"Twilight, you like novels with good stories, right?"

"Yes."

"You won't read books that are bad, will you?"

"No."

"That didn't stopped you from reading novels altogether. You've read some good and bad comics, haven't you?"

"Oh yes, I've read some truly awful ones."

"But you've read good ones too, right? At least, the ones you enjoyed reading?"

Twilight looked down at the comic book. The comic book opened to a full-page spread of Star Storm. She was levitating in mid-air, her eyes glowing white, unleashing a storm of lightning on the winged minions surrounding her. "Yes, I admit it," she said slowly.

"See? I told you comics can be good. Sure, they may not have taught me good grammar or how to write letters better, but they're just another way of telling a story. There is nothing embarrassing about reading comics. It's like watching a musical play; it's yet another way of telling a story!"

Twilight climbed out of the book pile. "I – I think you're right Spike. I just never gave them the chance because I assumed they were all childish and bad. I shouldn't have dismiss them all just because of a few rotten apples.

"When I'm reading this story with Star Storm and the other heroes, I found myself wanting more, wanting to know them better, see them face adversities and triumph over them through teamwork. I guess, it's no different from reading the same story if it had been a novel."

"So, you finally ready to admit it now Twilight? Just say it," Spike teased.

Twilight smiled. "Oh alright Spike, I admit. I was wrong to think all comic books are bad."

"So, can I have my comics back now?" Spike asked hopefully.

Twilight thought for a while. "Well alright, you can have them back-"

"Yes! Woo hoo!" Spike yelled out.

"-after I'm done tidying up the back room-"

Spike stopped smiling. "Oh, barnacles."

"-and reviewing them all. In the meantime, you can keep reading that book I lent you. Okay, I'll be nice. I won't need the book report from you anymore."

Spike sighed. "Oh alright, as long as I still get my comics back."

"Also, I want to have a serious word with you about those bad comics."

"Which one?"

"Vondork. Those books were repulsive. I don't think they're even for your age."

Spike sighed. "Yeah, Vondork's comics used to be good, but everything went downhill when the publisher canned the old continuity and rebooted all the characters."

"Reboot?"

"Basically, they're rewriting all of their characters' back stories. They said they want to make them more 'grown-up'." Spike said the last word sarcastically.

"But, why would they do that?"

"Beats me, they said readers have become older and they like more matures stories, so they want to make them all 'dark and gritty'. Almost no pony I know likes the reboot at all."

"I don't need to be a die-hard fan to see why." In her mind, Twilight had already started penning a stern letter of complaint to the culprit publisher. They would definitely listen to complaints from a princess.

"Can you believe that the writers behind League of Heroes used to write the award-winning _Vondork And The Amoral Vigilantes _series? They left their jobs when it got canceled, formed their own comic book company and started writing League of Heroes. They're real-life comic book legends! Isn't it amazing?"

"Wow, who knew? So you won't mind if I get rid of the really bad comics?"

"No! I still want to collect them. Who knows, they might become valuable one day!"

Twilight only rolled her eyes in response.

* * *

A week later, Twilight Sparkle surprised visitors to her library when she unveiled a small section dedicated solely to comic books.

"Twilight, I thought you've said you'll never stock comic books in the library," Spike said, surprised.

"Yes, what made you change your mind?" Cheerilee added. She was bringing her entire class to visit the library for the day when Twilight made the surprise announcement.

"Well, foals being foals, they'll be naturally drawn to comic books. So why not use them to attract more foals to the library? That way, we'll have more opportunities to nurture in them a genuine love for reading," Twilight explained.

"Are all the comics appropriate for them?"

"I've personally read and picked them myself." Twilight had carefully reviewed the comic books, making sure that those that were in the library were for all ages. The nursery comic books with _Bunny and Friends_ took up one of the shelf. The _League of Heroes_ books and every issue in Star Storm's solo series published so far stocked the second shelf.

"You know Twilight, maybe the library should have more comics other than Star Storm and talking animals," Spike suggested. "Captain Equestria isn't bad too, and Beautrix just got her own solo series."

"Yes Spike, I'll look into it."

"Alright, I finally got to read another issue of Star Storm!" Rumble said happily as he grabbed the latest issue of Star Storm's comics. His classmates were also starting to crowd around the comic section, jostling to see what other comics were available.

"I want the ones with the bunny!" a filly said excitedly.

"I want Star Storm!" said another.

"Remember, you've to borrow a novel for every comic you borrow," Twilight reminded the foals.

"Then I shall take another Daring Do's book! She's just as awesome as Star Storm!" Rumble said eagerly.

"Twilight, I think it's nice of you to have comics in the library, but don't you think it's far better if you only encourage them to read proper books instead?" Cheerilee asked Twilight, still looking worried.

Twilight handed the second volume of Daring Do to Rumble. "Don't worry Ms. Cheerilee. I'll still do my best to steer them towards reading good novels. But I think it's fine to let them read a few comics once in a while, as long as they're proper," Twilight assured her.

Relieved, Cheerilee said, "Thank you, I knew I can trust your judgment. It's just – I've no idea why they're suddenly so obsessed with this 'Star Storm' superhero character. Surprisingly, it's the fillies who talked about her the most. What's so special about her?"

Twilight shrugged. "I guess they just want to have heroes to look up to, even if they're fictional."


End file.
